Boxing: Qadir’s Olympic hopes dashed

Pakistan boxer aggravates injury during training ahead of qualifiers.

KARACHI: Pakistan boxer Abdul Qadir is likely to be ruled out of the Asian round of the Olympic qualifiers after aggravating a back injury during a training session.

Qadir, who was the country’s main hope in the 60-kilogramme category, has been troubled by a recurring back problem and his aims of representing Pakistan at the Olympic qualifiers, which get underway from April 4, received a jolt when he aggravated the injury a few days back.

The Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) head coach Majeed Brohi said the setback can severely dent the country’s chances.

“He has a history of back problems and that came back to haunt him during the intense training session,” Brohi told The Express Tribune. “It’s shocking for us because he was certainly one of our main hope to win a gold medal and qualify for the Olympics.”

The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) medical officer Waqar Ahmed revealed that the pugilist kept hiding his injury.

“He used to get sharp pains but never told anybody and subsequently his body couldn’t bear it,” said Waqar.

“He is out of contention right now and there’s very little chance that he can recover in less than three weeks.”

Meanwhile, for Qadir the pain is much less hurtful than the thought of missing the Olympic qualifiers.

“It’s a serious setback,” said Qadir. “After working tirelessly to get in the best shape, my injury aggravated at the last moment.

“But I’m still hopeful that I’ll be able to get fit though it is a race against time.”

Qadir added that he got some rest in Islamabad but was unable to get his tests done as the machines were not available with PSB.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2012.